But in a way, Batman is easy – people pretty much just want the Batmobile – give it us in every scale and at every price point, we’re in.

But Speed Racer beyond the Mach 5 is going to require a little more work but it’s almost a can’t miss.

You have the Wachowski brothers who brought us the Matrix directing, so you know the Special Effects and CGI won’t be the local weather guy’s green screen … based on a story that’s hard to foul up – a kid who likes to drive fast on a circuit where the rules of gravity don’t seem to apply. Throw in a cute girl named Trixie, a monkey and a fat guy named Pops … who cares what the real plot is?

I’ll be at the theater on May 9, 2008 so I haven’t watched the trailer that closely other than to see things flying through the air … I’m in! :-)

And of course, there are some toys to go with it.

But you really need the proper music to play along with this post … so, click PLAY …

There is another series “Speed Racer Battle Vehicles” which are smaller than the 1:24ish “deluxe” version:

I think this Race Track Trailer is for this series … otherwise, it’s honky huge if it’s really for the 1:24ish series cars to park inside:

But, what’s a Mattel Hot Wheels line without 1:64 scale cars?

The first lineup is 12-cars. I suppose with real investigating, we could figure out each name but it might be more fun to wait for the movie :-)

Each car comes with a plastic attachment – as of course, each car has its own unique set of attack and defense weapons … in our world, we have to rely on hand gestures and small arms ;-)

Here is a close up of the blister …

And of course, two-packs where you get an “exclusive” car …

There is also a very nice 1:64 scale transport and launcher …

And a 4-pack with accessories!

And some Toy Fair photos:

Of course, you also need some playets or in this case, tracks …

There are at least three introduced at Toy Fair, a Casa Cristo 5000 Ice Caves set, the Speed Racer Fuji Helexicon set – nice – much like the sets they sell now that you can attach to a door frame …

But I am saving this best for last – the most kick-*** track Mattel has ever put together … the innocuously named, “Speed Racer Sky Jump Box.”

Let’s crack that bad-boy open and set ‘er up!

That’s right, drop cars into the giant funnel and off to the launcher it goes – and around the track … where’s our official Speed Racer bucket to dump the cars in?

The only disappointing thing is that the Speed Racer 1:64 are mostly all plastic but I suppose that’s the keep the weight down for the flying sky jump (and of course, save Mattel some money).

If you don’t mind all-plastic, Target has this exclusive for $7.99:

Most serious diecast collectors are going to want the metal series. Surprisingly Jada is offering a set of 4 (so far?) that are super nice at $2.99 – great detailing, solid – all metal – 1:55 scale:

Jada is also offering a 1:32 version that is a great deal at $4.99:

For collectors, Mattel is offering a 1:64 version that is all metal – it’s more spendy at $4.99 each but it is attached to a display case like the Kyosho cars:

(I have not seen the Mach 5 version yet, not sure if it’s short-packed or not shipped yet).

Mattel has two 1:24 scale metal Mach 5 & Mach 6 at $29.99 – Jada is doing the Mach 5 1:24 for a great price at $14.99.

A few years back, Johnny Lightning did up a great set of Speed Racer diecasts made of solid heavy metal (in other words – real diecasts) and great sculpts (as always) – AllAboardToys still has them in stock.

There are also some great Legos – we’ll cover those in a separate post.

Not exactly up my alley but for once, Ken does not look like a dork or as the clearly-gay beard of Barbie …

Christine Ricci plays Trixie – not a bad likeness of her.

Most everything should be out for sale by end of March. The movie doesn’t open until May 9, 2008.

It’s clear that the Mach 5 is like the 1966 Batmobile – cool in any era …

Though this other car from the movie … DAAAAAMMMMMMNNNNNN ….

The official website is pretty sparse … though for film buffs, there is an interesting audio podcast of the press conference at the Berlin Film Festival with all the stars and Joel Silver, the producer.

You can listen by opening a new window or browser tab or right click to download it.

The original animated series is available on DVD – All 52 episodes are available split up on 5 discs (Amazon Link) 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5.

And just as the Ford Futurama show car was the basis for the Batmobile, when you see the Ferrari 250TR Testarossa … you can see where the Mach 5 was inspired by … and of course, the Ferrari’s headlights are pointed forward – a little more useful when going 150 MPH than headlights that point to the ground like the Mach 5 … though the saw blades and weaponry are more useful :-) … though I think Trixie would join you if you had either car :-)

I guess mattel didn’t take the Lesson from RC2. This line regardless of falling during a movie release will die a very very quick death! Let alone Jada Toys also has a license and are making 1:32 pullback just like Mattel and doing the RC thing just like Mattel, and will be doing the smaller scales just like Mattel. Granted there is a “cult” following for Speed Racer, but not that big of a following. Super OVER SATURATION of PLASTIC TOYS, (might have a better reaction if diecast was involved) this line will choke the shelves and the movie isn’t all that great either. Make sure you know you heard it here first, the movie will disappoint as well as the toy sales. An opinion at the moment but will be a FACT come JUNE…

METROXING- I’AM CRYING , I AM CRYING TEARS OF ENORMOUS JOY FINALLY FROM CARS FOR MY KIDS TO THIS YES YES YEEAAAHHH “THE MACH-5″ MY DREAM OF THIS HAS COME TRUE! I KNEW ONE DAY IT WOULD BE REALISTIC.I AM THRILLED OF THIS ,I CAN’T WAIT : )

(METROXING: If you want a nice diecast version 1:24 or 1:18 scale, check out one from ERTL from a couple years back – all metal body).

Metroxing-Megaheat2008 “WOW”,I was in Wal-Mart today and they had the pullbacks on sale Mach-5, GRX,Snake Oiler even for plastic, The CARS Are Still Tops. To let you in on EBAY this guy from Maine has “CUSTOM CARS”,I am bidding ,and hopefully going 2 “I won’t screech the tires here,but all that matters they are “MEGAHEATLY HOT”-1 Custom Red Ransburg Lightning McQueen 1 Purple Ray Ransburg,and of course another Blu Ray,but 4 me it is worth it to the “MOST SUPERGUY” in The World, Let’s REVVVvvv It Up 4 My SUPERGUY, MY SON!!!Allright then I can’t afford the MACH-5 (THE REAL ONE) BUT DARN ,I MEAN I’M MEGAHOT BUT THAT CAR : ) “THAT’S HELLAHOT”!!! So, ” CONGRATULATIONS” ON YOUR BOOK!!! I most likely will want to add your book to my son’s collection ****BRAKE’S AND WHEELS SCREEECHINGG/DAD WILL ENJOY READING ,and LOOKING AT THE BOOK FIRST ,BUT I WON’T LET HIM KNOW THAT YET AFTER ALL HE’S ONLY 2YRS. OLD : ) AND I’VE SEEN IT IN THE POST T-SHIRT I HAVE DEFINITELY GOTTA GET IT!!!

Our WM has had most all of the Speedracer toys out for almost 2 weeks. They are really selling well. Here the big mover is the MACH 5 TRANSPORTER. They put out what looked like about 12 to 15 and they are long gone. I scanned one and I think it was $11.97. It is the only Speedracer item, that has sold completely out. The next best seller seems to be the 2 Packs at $7.97. The price stickers have not even been put on the shelves yet but they are selling. Wait till the movie comes out. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I have long been a speedracer fan since I use to rush home from school to see and hear the go speed racer go song I have purchased every 1;64 scale car from mattel I have purchesed the ice caves race set I dont care if they are plastic these cars are dine-o-mite dont jump on the mattel bashing wagon till you purchase and try these toy cars for yourself then and only then your words will ring with truth other then that your going to miss out on great memory of days past.James

I went by Kmart this AM on a Cars run and all they had put out were a bunch of Supercharged singles. That was a bit strange. Anyway, they had just put out a whole end cap of Speedracer toys. 10 different items to be exact. Several items that WM has not put out yet. But no Mach 5 Transporters. The price on the 2 packs was .98 cheaper than WM. So if you are into Speedracer you might check your local Kmart.

Just stopped by a Target yesterday afternoon in Minnesota and saw the shelves full of Speed Racer toys. I passed on them as I’m not sure if my 4 yr old will be into this movie. I may be kicking myself by summer if he does and the shelves are bare.

We got the Jada Toys version of the Mach 5 the a week or so ago at TRU. They had put them out too early on accident and didn’t really want to haul them all back to the storeroom. We saw the new Mattel display at Target yesterday and it doesn’t compare. The Jada Toys version was far more impressive. Even my 5 year old could tell the difference.

(METROXING: Yea, you’re right – they do look way nicer … apparently Mattel is releasing a metal version line I think at TRU only).

It’s easy now to see what happened with the setback in the Cars shipments. All of the major toy retailers have dedicated major shelf space to Speedracer. Mattel really did a sales job on them. This must be what has pushed Cars back. I couldn’t believe the space TRU has for Speedracer. The only collectible grade toys for Speedracer are the Jada line. The Mattel line is just plastic junk. But kids will love it and it will sell.

The diecast Speed Racer cars are awesome, we picked up a couple at TRU today. They had a huge wall display with like you said every scale imaginable. All the plastic cars were just sitting there like they were already peg warmers!

I’m a big Speed Racer fan and looking forward to the movie coming out this week. The original Speed Racer has their own website with a store and products. These items are officially licensed merchandise and they have lots of character stuff, cars, and more. It looks like they even have some limited edition autographed die cast cars of the Mach 5 and Shooting Star. The autograph is from Peter Fernandez who is the creator and voice of the original Speed Racer.

$Go $peedracer $Go$$$$$$$
In addition to the already 10 foot long top to bottom shelf space, WM overnight put out 2 pallet (4 sides each) display boxes in the main isle full of $peedracer. Most of the items were new to me. Guess our friendly neighborhood mammoth retailer is ready for the big weekend$$$. I hope the movie is as good as the marketing!

(MET: The original was based on the Ferrari 250 … so if you have $3 million, you can cut one open :-) … well, it’s not directly related but at the bottom of this post is the guy who built the fiberglass Pixar CARS for Disney so that should be a start … you just need a mold of the Mach 5, weld it to an approximate sized car and you’re set … in theory … good luck!).